The Undoing – 8

Plusses: Nicole Kidman looked great. So did New York: Central Park, the Frick, the UES. The supporting cast – Noah Jupe, Donald Sutherland, Lily Rabe, Noma Dumezweni, Jeremy Shamos(!) – was great fun. Best of all, the story kept us–and I mean a lot of us–guessing up to the last episode: who killed Elena Alves? The courtroom scenes, until Grace’s time on the stand, were impressively real.

Minuses: The reason we were kept guessing was the constant introduction of “red herrings”–clues that led us to suspect different characters, although in retrospect most, if not all, were utterly implausible, if not impossible (e.g., a video of Grace walking near the murder scene in Harlem near the time of the murder). Hugh Grant, who played Jonathan with a pained, pinched face that conveyed what? (constipation?). His opaque, unconvincing characterization kept us from focusing all our suspicions on him, but gave us no reason to accept the denouement, when it came.

Net: It was great fun to have a reasonable six-parter that unfolded each Sunday evening, something to look forward to and discuss with fellow devotees. At the end, it was nothing more, but for now that was enough.